Woman's House Burns to the Ground After She Tries to Kill a Snake with Fire

A Northeast Texas woman learned a valuable lesson — literally — about the dangers of using fire to rid one's home of snakes.

The unidentified homeowner was doing some yard work yesterday evening outside her Bowie County house when she suddenly spotted a snake.

Fire Chief David Wesslehoft told reporters the incident is still under investigation, but local authorities believe they have a pretty good handle on what happened next.

"While cleaning up, she saw a snake, threw gasoline on the snake, and lit the snake on fire," Bowie County Sheriff's Deputy Randall Baggett told KHOU. "And the snake went into the brush pile and the brush pile caught the home on fire."

The house then proceeded to burn to the ground.

A neighboring home was also damaged.

Wesslehoft, the Fire Chief, said this biblical scenario was a first for him, but noted that flaming animals have been known to torch people's homes in the past.

"Yes, it could happen with rabbits and big field mice," he told KSLA. "Once they start burning the grass, they get out of their hole, they have been known to catch fire and then take off."